Washington Post Article About Front Porch Forum

 

The Washington Post recently published an article profiling Front Porch Forum, which basically serves as an online bulletin board, discussion forum as well as informational newsletter, helping to connect neighbors in local communities across Vermont and parts of New York state within the digital age (at least those who have Internet access anyway; image: screenshot of Washington Post article), here.

The article itself is behind the newspaper's usual paywall, however, I had fortunately been gifted access to it via an anonymous Washington Post subscriber.

The article begins with these initial paragraphs about the online forum, 

"Imagine an online community where substantive debates about Donald Trump, climate change and America’s culture wars nestle quietly alongside messages about lost rabbits and school board meetings. 

"It exists and even thrives — in Vermont. Front Porch Forum counts nearly half the state’s adults as active members. More than Facebook, Nextdoor, Craigslist or their local newspaper, the site is where Vermonters go to interact with their neighbors online — generally without disparaging each other.

"At a time when Americans are increasingly disenchanted with social media, researchers are studying Front Porch Forum to try to understand what makes for a kinder, gentler online community — and what Big Tech could learn from it."

[...]

In addition, the article reports on research done about Front Porch Forum by New_Public, here.

The article also mentions about how the forum serves as "a hub for political discussions", quoting a resident of Shelburne (image: screenshot of Front Porch Forum Website).

Concerning debates and political discussion posted by users of the forum, however, the article does not mention anything about debates and discussion posted on some local community forums arising from requests by some calling for banning or otherwise limiting -- in one fashion or another -- political dialogue (i.e., politics). 

For example, both last year as well as again this year, there were requests posted on Montpelier's Front Porch Forum by different people asking for politics to be banned or otherwise limited in some way.

This brought about various responses from community members, pro and con.

For my part, I had been among those who responded to the initial posts posted both last and this year raising concern about banning or limiting discussion of politics on the forum. In addition, I also submitted letters to the editor to certain publications on the subject, including vtdigger, here (last paragraph):

[...] 

"Banning discussion and the exercising of free speech on what is supposed to be a community forum is a rather slippery slope, in my opinion."

That particular letter to the editor of mine received a published response by a reader, here, while not necessarily condemning my position, concluded with the following (last paragraph): 

[...]

"If Front Porch Forum can remove all talk of politics and concentrate on local meetings, public services, heat pumps, manure and groundhog traps, so much the better. There are plenty of places to vent one’s spleen."

With that, it would seem that civil as well as healthy political debate and discussion on Front Porch Forum will continue as well as thrive, as it should.